Privacy Policy

We at the American Association for Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) recognize that visitors and members visiting this site may have concerns about privacy issues as they navigate the Internet. We are committed to the protection of personal information we receive from users of this site. As a result, we will use reasonable efforts to ensure that the information you provide remains private, and is used only for the purposes stated below.

Your use of this site constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Statement. You should also review AAFCS’ Terms of Use in order to understand how you can utilize the information provided in this site.

Collected Information

There are two primary types of users of the AAFCS website: Unregistered Users and Registered Users. Unregistered Users are individuals who navigate our site without acquiring a registration. Registered Users are members and other individuals who have completed a registration form and obtained a user name and password. Information collected through our site from Registered Users is used by AAFCS to ensure it has up-to-date information about its members. Registered Users must complete a registration form. Our site’s registration form requires specific contact information: name, email address, and other identifying information. Unique identifiers (such as IDs and passwords) are collected to verify the user’s identity and for use as account numbers in our record system.

Like many other websites, we may collect information about visitors and the manner in which visitors utilize and navigate our site. This information helps website owners design their sites to better suit visitor’s needs. For example, the site may track the URL that you visited before you came to our site, the URL of the site you visit after leaving our site, and your IP address. We may use the IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, and to administer the site. The information collected in this manner is not associated with a particular individual and no personal information is collected from Unregistered Users, unless an Unregistered User voluntarily provides such information to us.

Online Membership Directory

Registered Users who are members of AAFCS have access to members’ information through the AAFCS online membership directory. AAFCS members who would not like to be included in the online membership directory have the option to opt out of the directory by editing their profile.

Sharing of Information

User information is not shared with any third parties for direct marketing or any other purposes not disclosed in this Privacy Statement.

AAFCS may be asked to divulge personal information to law enforcement and other government agencies. AAFCS will comply with such requests when required to do so or when it has a good faith belief that the requested disclosure is necessary to comply with legal obligations. AAFCS will ask all government and law enforcement officials for acceptable reasons that AAFCS believes, in its sole discretion, support the request for disclosure of the information.

AAFCS is the sole owner of any and all information collected through the use of the site. And, in the event that AAFCS, or substantially all of its assets, are acquired by a third party, the information collected through the site will be one of the transferred assets.

Links to Other Sites

The AAFCS site may contain links to third-party websites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by AAFCS of the contents on such third-party websites. AAFCS is not responsible for the privacy practices of linked third-party sites and does not make any representations regarding the privacy practices of such third-party websites. If you follow links to third-party websites, you do so at your own risk.

Email Messages

AAFCS communicates with its users by email for specific web-related functions, such as password reminders. Because these messages are critical to site use, users will not be able to opt-out of receiving such messages.

Upon registration with AAFCS, you will receive occasional emails from us about new features and similar messages that we feel may be of interest. The following options are available to opt-out of receiving these messages:

Edit your profile by clicking on the link at the bottom of the email you received.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files containing a string of characters that can be placed on your computer or mobile device that uniquely identify your browser or device.

Cookies allow a site or services to know if your computer or device has visited that site or service before. Cookies can then be used to help understand how the site or service is being used, help you navigate between pages efficiently, help remember your preferences, and generally improve your browsing experience. Cookies can also help ensure marketing you see online is more relevant to you and your interests.

There are generally four categories of cookies: “Strictly Necessary,” “Performance,” “Functionality,” and “Targeting.” AAFCS uses all four categories of cookies on the website. You can find out more about each cookie category below.

Strictly Necessary Cookies. These cookies are essential, as they enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing logged in or secure areas.

Performance Cookies. These cookies collect information about how you have used the website, for example, information related to the unique username you have provided. These cookies may also be used to allow us to know that you have logged in so that we can serve you fresher content than a user who has never logged in. We also use cookies to track aggregate website usage and experiment with new features and changes. The information collected is used to improve how the website works.

Functionality Cookies. These cookies store information regarding user consent on loading specific features which then set third party cookies, e.g. YouTube videos. This consent is requested on the first time you load a page that uses a relevant feature. It is then stored for reference during future visits

Targeting Cookies. AAFCS may use these types of cookies to deliver advertising that is relevant to your interests. These cookies can remember that your device has visited a site or service, and may also be able to track your device’s browsing activity on other sites or services other than AAFCS. This information may be shared with organizations outside AAFCS, such as advertising networks used to deliver the advertising, and to help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.

The length of time a cookie will stay on your computer or mobile device depends on whether it is a “persistent” or “session” cookie. Session cookies will only stay on your device until you stop browsing. Persistent cookies stay on your computer or mobile device until they expire or are deleted.

Security

The account containing your information is password protected. You should never share your account information and passwords with anyone. Your information is maintained in a secured database to which only authorized personnel have access. Although we take reasonable precautions to protect the information you provide, you should keep in mind that this site is run on software, hardware, and networks, any component of which may, from time to time, require maintenance or experience problems or breaches in security. In the event of a breach, we will take all the necessary steps required by law to inform you of the compromise of any sensitive information.

Children's Guidelines

Our site is intended for a professional audience and is not directed to children under the age of 13. AAFCS does not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Feedback

AAFCS encourages visitors to submit feedback. As with all information collected through the site, any feedback that is submitted becomes the property of AAFCS and we may use this feedback for marketing purposes, or to contact visitors for more information.

Additional Information about Internet Privacy

We recommend visiting the Federal Trade Commission website for more information about general privacy issues.

Legal Rights for EU Customers

You have the right to request access to and rectification or erasure of personal information, the right to restrict processing of your personal information, and the right to object to processing of your personal information. You have the right to object to your personal information being processed on the grounds of AAFCS‘s legitimate interests. You have the right to object to us sending you direct marketing at any time, and we will only send you direct marketing material if you have specifically asked us to do so and where we feel such material may be of genuine interest. You can contact us by email at staff@aafcs.org in relation to any of the rights described in this paragraph, or if you have any questions regarding this privacy policy. You have the right to lodge a complaint regarding our processing of your personal information with a data protection supervisory authority in a country where you live, work, or where you believe a breach may have occurred.

Privacy Statement Updates

We may change this Privacy Statement at any time at our sole discretion. Any changes to our privacy policy will be posted here so that visitors will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone. We encourage you to review this Privacy Statement from time to time because we will only post changes to the Privacy Statement on this page. If, at any time, you have questions or concerns about AAFCS’ privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this site, contact us at: